According to the prior art, folding boxes are known which comprise a tamper-evident closure, wherein the closure must be glued during the assembly of the folding box. Alternatively, the folding boxes are provided with an (adhesive) label or sealed by polyethylene (PE) sealant. These additionally required steps prolong the assembly process and make it more expensive, because many packaging machines do not have, for example, a gluing device. There is therefore a need for a folding box with a tamper-evident closure without adhesive.
A cardboard pocket with a tamper-evident closure is known from DE 198 09 466 A1. When the cardboard pocket is being closed, a flap hinged to a closure tab is hooked from the outside into a cutout located in the side wall of the cardboard pocket in such a way that, when the pocket is opened for the first time and the closure tab is pulled out, the flap is separated from the closure tab. A cardboard pocket of this type, however, suffers from the disadvantage that the closure is formed externally on the side wall, which means that the surface is not smooth. In the case of mass-produced articles, however, smooth surfaces are important, because there is nothing which some other object can grip or hold on to.
DE 100 46 179 A1 discloses a folding box with tamper-evident closure comprising a tamper-evident tab, which is torn off completely or at least partially along a perforation line when the box is opened. The disadvantage of this folding box is that the temper-evident closure can be bypassed by manipulation. For example, it is possible to reach in and grip the insertion tab from the side and thus prevent the tamper-evident tab from being torn off or partially torn. The tamper-evident closure is therefore not reliable. As a result of the reclosing mechanism formed in the side wall, furthermore, this folding box also suffers from the problem that the side surface is not completely smooth (see above).
EP 2 003 061 A1 discloses another folding box with tamper-evident closure, in which the insertion tab comprises a tear-off tab, which is folded in the direction opposite to the folding direction of the insertion tab and which is torn off when the folding box is opened for the first time. The tear-off tab then engages with retaining means formed in the interior of the folding box. The tamper-evident closure of this folding box suffers from the disadvantage that the retaining means must have a comparatively complicated structure to guarantee that the tear-off tab and the retaining means can engage with each other. It is desirable to overcome these short comings of the prior art.